


Domestic Bliss

by alexcat



Series: After the World Ends [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 22:30:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14724800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexcat/pseuds/alexcat
Summary: Lots of talking and a little yelling.





	Domestic Bliss

Since no one knew yet how to fix things or even how to strike back at Thanos, the Avengers and what was left of the organization tried to find out who was left, to reach out to former S.H.I.EL.D. agents, and take stock of their assets. 

Jane Foster had been found alive and well, but she declined to join them at headquarters. Thor seemed sad at her decision but no one really knew how to deal with a god. 

Nat had her own issues with Bruce. He simply acted like their relationship had never existed in the first place. He wouldn’t talk much about what happened to him when he was gone except that she knew Thor had been there as well. She knew that he sometimes didn’t remember what the big guy did. She thought about joining Clint, to help with the children. He was her best friend and she missed him, but she wasn’t ready to give up on Bruce yet. 

Rocket spent time with Tony and Bruce. He could cobble together electronics like no one had ever seen so they put him to work on their weaponry. Rhodey spent a lot of his time with them as well. 

Nebula, oddly enough, seemed to take up with Steve. She told him of her history, of Gamora, of the Guardians. He told her about humans and earth. His optimism had taken some hard hits with all the losses but he’d lived a long time and was nothing if not resilient. She seemed calm with Steve and everyone was happier if Nebula was calm. 

*

Bruce was eating dinner when Nat sat beside him. “Hello, Bruce. Please don’t run away this time.”

“Is that what you think? You think I ran away?” 

“What else can I think?”

“The big guy knew he needed to go away, far away. I couldn’t control him, I never have been able to, and he didn’t want to hurt anyone I loved.” 

“Am I in that group?” 

Bruce set his fork down and stared at her. “How can you even ask that? You know I love you.” 

“You’re back now and I’ve not seen a single thing that would even hint that you still care!” She was becoming angrier by the minute. 

“Let’s not do this here.”

“Let’s!” She growled. “No one will notice. Tony can’t see anything but more machines and Steve. Thor is mooning around with the raccoon and when Steve isn’t snogging Tony, he’s making googoo eyes at the cyborg. So it’s just us, buddy!” 

“What do I have to offer you? I’m a middle-aged man with a giant, green secret.”

“I fell in love with a middle-aged man with a giant, green secret, you idiot,” she shouted at him. She was loud enough that the others all looked up from their own conversations to see what was happening. She waved her hand at them all and they looked away though they certainly didn’t stop paying attention. 

“Can we talk about this somewhere else?” Bruce was clearly embarrassed. 

“Fine. Come with me!” 

“Can I finish eating?” 

She reached for his hand. “No. Oh hell, bring the damn food with you but come with me. Now!” 

*

Tony laughed. “Your sweetheart treat you that way, Cap?” 

“Nope. Mine is fairly quiet and does as I say.”

The others at the table almost choked on their laughter. Though the two of them weren’t exactly public with their relationship, everyone knew they shared a room and that if one passed by it at night, they could hear lots of sounds coming from inside that were obviously not chess games. 

“Have we heard from anyone else?” Rhodey asked. 

“Agents keep straggling in. Nat and I are vetting them. Remember that Ant-man guy? He’s still out there but we can’t find him . There are several candidates for the Stark suits as well,” Steve said. 

“Things are actually pretty quiet right now. I think the world is still stunned,” Tony added. “Wong told me to stop pestering him, the old ’don’t call us, we’ll call you’ thing.”

“We heard from Wakanda again. They are working on weaponry and shielding. They are sending someone to take a look at Nebula’s ship. She has given permission as long as she is there with them,” Steve said. 

Rhodey spoke, “I heard from Washington. They started asking about renegades and talking about the Sokovia Accords. I told Ross that right now, we considered all who fought as allies, period. It won’t last long, but it might buy us some time to get better organized.” 

The Accords were what had split the Avengers down the middle. Tony knew that Steve would never sign them, considering them to be similar to being forced to wear identifying stars or triangles by the Nazis in the Second World War. He also knew that there were a lot of unspoken things between them. Right now, he didn’t much care. Having Steve back was all that really mattered. 

“I won’t sign. I’ll fight and I’ll die for them but I will not sign their damned Accords,” Steve said, fire in his eyes. Steve Rogers believed in the ideal of freedom and collecting lists of ‘threats’ went against that belief. 

*

“Do you think I’m too wimpy to deal with the big guy?” Nat asked Bruce as soon as they were in her room. 

“I’m too wimpy to deal with him,” was his answer. 

Nat sighed. “I _know_ that, you idiot.” She stopped screaming and started to cry. “You stupid bastard! I love you. You – Bruce-fucking-Banner and all that goes with you.” 

Bruce actually stopped eating and went to her, pulling her into his arms. “Oh Nat, I don’t know how to be with anyone anymore. I have to learn.” 

“And running away for _years_ is learning?”

“Yeah, well, that was probably a mistake.”

“I don’t know what to do with you, Bruce Banner. I love you and, believe me, that’s not an easy thing to do sometimes.”

“I do know. I have trouble with it too.” 

She stopped and looked at him. And laughed. “You are an idiot and I love you. If you run off again, I will kill you and the big guy! Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am.” 

“Now take your damned clothes off and take me to bed.” 

He blushed. “Yes, ma’am.” 

*

Nebula followed Cap around like a scary, blue kitten most of the time. She asked questions and he did his best to answer her but this one sort of threw him. 

“Why do you have sex with the big mouthed one, Tony Stark? I think the god would make a better lover. He is brash but he is kind as well. Your lover is more of a jerk than Peter Quill.” 

Steve blushed. He’d always blushed if someone asked about his sex life. Always. But then usually he’d not had much of one. Saving the world seemed a full time job leaving little time for anything more. Until Tony. 

“I care for him. We became friends because of our differences. Though we disagree on many things, we do what we do to protect people, to protect the earth.” 

“You did a piss poor job of it this time, Rogers.” 

“You are brutally honest, aren’t you?” 

She shrugged. 

“Did you have a lover?” he asked, genuinely curious. 

“Do I look like someone another person would want to ‘snuggle’ with?”

He looked at her. She was made up of quite a bit of metal but skin was stretched over most of the metal parts. She was not what any human would call beautiful but she was not ugly either. He tentatively reached out a hand to her face. She pulled back at first and then went still, letting him touch her. 

“I think you might not be so bad to snuggle with, Nebula. If you stop trying to kill people, I think they’ll overlook your less soft parts. They tend to overlook mine.” 

She shot her hand out to his face, running her fingers over his face, his beard. “If you did not have a lover, would you snuggle with me?” 

He realized then that perhaps she was thinking of him as more than a friend and he also realized that yes, if not for Tony, he _would_ ‘snuggle’ with her. Why not? “I would.” His voice came out oddly soft. He put his hand over hers and squeezed it gently. He kissed her cheek. 

He missed the tear that slid down her face a moment later.

 

*

Rocket was with Thor. 

“I’m sorry your tree friend is gone,” Thor said to him. 

“Yeah, well, nothing lasts forever, does it?”

“Apparently not, not even gods.”

“Did you say your brother got killed by Thanos and his pleasant children? I got no family. I was made in a lab.”

“Is that why you are a talking rabbit?” 

“I told you. I ain’t no rabbit. I’m Rocket and there ain’t but one of me.”

“I’m pretty sure there is a creature here on earth that looks just like you.” 

“No way!” He knew there was, but he wanted to aggravate Thor. 

“Come with me to the computer. I’ll show you.”

On the way, he asked one of the techs in the communications room to find the animal that rocket looked like. She was a tiny blond woman with big glasses and a bigger smile. “You mean a raccoon. Let me find a picture of one.” She searched raccoons and found several photos.

Rocket stared. He had known but he had never actually seen a photo of a real one before. “Are they geniuses like me?” 

The young woman shook her head. “They are actually animals and they live in the wild, in forests and such.”

“Then I am a raccoon? Quill was right all along. I’ll be damned. Do they speak like me?” 

She shook her head. 

“Well fuck me with a machine gun! So what am I supposed to do for a date around this place? I’d ask the dangerous blond out but I’d wear her out.”

Thor shrugged. “We go on, Rabbit.”

The tiny blond spoke up. “I’m Maggie, by the way.” 

”Maggie, I’m pleased to meet you. I am Thor, son of Odin,” Thor said. “And I am a god,” he added for good measure. 

Maggie stuck her hand out and shook his large hand. “Pleased to meet you, Thor, son of Odin.”

She smiled to herself as she watched the god and raccoon walk away. No one in West Virginia would believe this even, if she _could_ tell them.


End file.
